Planning Assistance in Action

Following a summer of analysis and collaboration with our partners, the Maryland Department of Planning (Planning) is once again set to traverse the state’s communities and continue the dialogue about A Better Maryland, the new state development plan. The outpouring of community engagement during the first round of 72 listening sessions was exhilarating. Thousands of Marylanders contributed feedback at public meetings and online. We received over 1,700 comments ranging in topics from infrastructure to housing! You can find them on our What We’ve Heard page.

Two overarching topics stood out. Reviewing the comments and the survey responses, it became clear that the environment and economic development form the core of what Marylanders want a state development plan to address. More

Resources and Tools

Connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies are rapidly moving from research to reality. Many vehicles already have automated driving systems (ADS) designed to help save lives and prevent injuries, and this technology may lead soon to self-driving vehicles on the road.

The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) is preparing for these rapid changes in CAV technology by engaging with federal, state, and local organizations – and the private sector – to realize the life-saving benefits of CAV technology. MDOT recognizes the safety, mobility, and efficiency benefits of ADS, and is embracing opportunities of collaboration for research, testing and eventual deployment. More

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Planning Assistance in Action

One year ago, at the Maryland Association of Counties summer conference, Governor Hogan signed an Executive Order directing the Department of Planning to work together with local governments, state agencies, Maryland residents and other stakeholders on a 21st century plan moving Maryland forward – growing responsibly and protecting our resources. More

Resources and Tools

Being a Planning Commissioner or a member of a Board of Zoning Appeals is a tough job. Individuals dedicated to their communities, with full time jobs, are thrust into positions where they can make important and difficult decisions guiding the future of growth, economic development, land preservation, and transportation in Maryland. Where is one to go to seek training and guidance on this critical issue? A great place to start is the Planning Commissioner Training Course, created following the Smart and Sustainable Growth Act of 2009. The course, available both online and in person at the Maryland Municipal League (MML), Maryland Association of Counties (MACo), and Maryland Planning Commissioners Association (MPCA) conferences (as well as on demand for interested jurisdictions), contains modules on Planning 101, Comprehensive Planning, and Smart Growth in Maryland. It is an excellent first step, but what about the citizen planner who wants to take the next step? This is where the MPCA offers help. More

Maryland’s State Department of Planning has designated the meeting space in its Baltimore office headquarters as “The Olmsted Conference Room” in recognition of the major role of the Olmsted firm in planning initiatives for parks, residential communities, and other sites in Baltimore and elsewhere in the state. A large introductory panel on the “Olmsted Legacy” identifies the three Olmsteds who for more than 75 years played an important role in Maryland and in nearby D.C.: Frederick Law Olmsted (FLO), John Olmsted, and Frederick Law Olmsted, Junior (FLO Junior).

Planning staff, Steve Allan and John Coleman review the panel for the 1908 plan.

Panels on the extensive Baltimore projects make the case that in few American cities was the Olmsted planning impact greater—with comprehensive planning for parks, residential communities, and urban amenities. The parks panel highlights FLO’s 1876 design for the grounds of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon Place (supplanted by Beaux Arts-inspired features). But the later role of the Olmsted Brothers, especially FLO Junior, in park planning proved more extensive and of longer duration. The firm’s 1904 comprehensive plan for Baltimore’s parks laid the basis for the modern park system. In 2016 the Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks & Landscapes and others succeeded in gaining the City’s historic designation for an East-West corridor of “Olmsted Parkways,” first envisioned in the 1904 plan. More